Enhanced glove cuff

ABSTRACT

An enhanced cuff design for gloves is disclosed, which allows for greater comfort and flexibility for the wearer while maintaining the rigidity and snug fit that is needed for many sports, work, and industrial use gloves.

FIELD OF INVENTION

This invention relates, generally, to cuffs for gloves worn on the humanhand and, more particularly to cuffs for gloves worn on the human handwith features that allow greater flexibility and comfort for the userand allowing the user to maintain a proper fit.

BACKGROUND

Glove manufacturers customarily produce gloves to be used by personswhile performing specific task that are tailored to enhance the wearer'sability to perform the task. Numerous sports, for example, use specificgloves to enhance the player's ability. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No.6,820,282 to England, et al. (golf), U.S. Pat. No. 6,088,834 to Seminara(baseball and softball), U.S. Pat. No. 5,745,916 to Linner (ice hockey),U.S. Pat. No. 4,064,563 (billiards), U.S. Pat. No. 5,500,956 toSchulkin, et al. (basketball), U.S. Pat. No. 5,537,692 to Dorr(snowboarding), U.S. Pat. No. 5,079,886 (rock climbing), U.S. Pat. No.6,832,391 to Bower (weightlifting), U.S. Pat. No. 3,096,523 to Bruchas(football), and numerous other gloves that are used in specific sports.

Gloves are also often used in vocational activities or in industrialenvironments where user's hands must be protected from harsh or harmfulelements in the environment. See, for example, U.S. Patent No. 5,882,796to Harges, Jr., et al. (for firefighters), U.S. Pat. No. 4,416,026 toSmith (for mechanics), U.S. Pat. No. 5,452,478 to Rombach, et al. (forgardening), and numerous other gloves that are used for specificvocational and industrial applications.

In developing glove designs, improvements have also been made that allowless restricted and easier movement of the wearer's wrists and hands.For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,270,363 to Weeber discloses a glove that“permits free movement of all the moveable portions of the wrists andall portions of the hands so that their movement is relativelyunrestricted, thus permitting easier, more accurate work and absence offatigue to the wearer as well as avoid the cause of many avoidableaccidents.” Weeber's design, however, by leaving the wearer's handuncovered, provides an insufficiently snug fit, and is, thus, unsuitableto many industrial or sports applications where hand coverage and a snugfit are essential to the glove's operation.

Another glove designed to allow flexibility is disclosed in U.S. Pat.No. 3,096,523 to Bruchas, which allows “freedom, flexibility, andmaneuverability of the hand.” Like Weeber, however, this glove achievesflexibility by leaving many portions of the hand uncovered and is, thus,unsuitable to many applications where coverage of the hand is importantto the glove's operation.

Another invention that provides enhanced freedom of movement isdisclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 5,444,874 to Samelian, et al., which utilizesa number of foldable flaps hingedly connected to the glove to allow easyingress and egress from the glove and freedom of movement of thewearer's wrists. Because this system of flaps leaves portions of thehand uncovered, however, it is likewise unsuitable to many applicationswhen a snug fit and protection of the entire hand is needed.

Another mechanism, which allows freedom of movement of the wearer'swrist is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,810,531 to Lento, which utilizesan elastic cuff in order to allow flexibility and maneuverability of thewearer's wrist. This glove has many shortcomings also, despite the useof lighter, elastic materials at the cuff, because a cuff of this typeis nevertheless prone to crimping and folding as the wrist is curled,this limiting movement and causing irritation in the user.

Another mechanism intended to allow greater flexibility of movement isdisclosed by Fox Racing in its Flexair Glove #03114, which utilizes twodifferent materials at the cuff in order to enhance maneuverability.While the use of a lighter material at the top of the cuff allows theFox glove greater flexibility, because the glove lacks a mechanism toensure the rigidity and snug-fit of the glove as a whole.

In summary, for each of the foregoing inventions, the wearer is forcedto compromise between a snug fit to the glove and maneuverability andflexibility of the wearer's wrist. That is, the gloves that provide asnug fit, such as those utilizing a hook and eye type wrist strap,invariably restrict movement by limiting maneuverability of the wrist,crimping or folding on movement, or otherwise causing resistance ordiscomfort on movement of the wearer's wrist. This is particularlyburdensome in many applications where the wearer must make repetitivemotions with his wrist, such as mechanic gloves, gardening gloves, orsporting gloves. On the other hand, those inventions that seek to allowgreater maneuverability by not restricting wrist movement, tend to lackthe rigidity and support needed for the snug fit that is often requiredfor glove use.

Thus, there remains a long-felt need in the art for a glove design thatallows the user both a firm, snug fit, as is suitable for sports andvocational use of gloves, and maneuverability and flexibility of thewearer's wrist, making the glove more comfortable to wear.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This invention is directed towards overcoming the above shortcomings byproviding a enhanced glove cuff design that allows for a snug and securefit and yet remains comfortable and flexible for the wearer, while beingadaptable to many different types of gloves for many different uses.

In one embodiment of the invention, the glove cuff is formed with alighter material at the top portion of the wrist area, such that theglove provides less resistance and greater flexibility for movement ofthe wearer's wrist. Unlike the above prior art, however, in order tomaintain the snug and secure fit of the glove, a heavier, inflexiblematerial, such as rubber, plastic, or PVC, is used as a cuffreinforcement and attached to the portion surrounding the lightermaterial. Thus, the cuff reinforcement provides structural rigidity tothe glove that it would lack if only the lighter material were used.Meanwhile, the heavier material is placed in locations that do notrequire flexibility, so that the comfort and flexibility of the glove isnot compromised by the use of the heavier material.

In another embodiment of the invention, both the upper and lowerportions of the cuff include lighter, more flexible materials andthereby allow for greater comfort and flexibility. In this embodiment,the heavier, cuff reinforcement material again surrounds the lightermaterials such that the glove maintains its rigidity and snug fit.

In other embodiments of the invention, this combination of alternatinglight and rigid materials is used along other portions of the glove,such as along the fingers, such that greater flexibility is allowedwhile maintaining the glove's structural rigidity.

Any of the above embodiments of the enhanced glove cuff invention areequally adaptable and usable for any of the above different glove types,including but not limited to work gloves, sports gloves, mechanicsgloves, and any other glove type where comfort and rigidity arebeneficial to glove performance. This invention will be particularlyuseful in applications such as mechanic's gloves or golf gloves, whereprecise, unrestricted movement of the wearer's wrist is commonlydesired.

The enhanced cuff design is, further, adaptable to all varieties ofglove materials. The design can be used with any number of naturaland/or synthetic materials wherein the material used at the cuff isrelatively light and flexible and a heavier, more rigid material isincluded adjacent to the lighter material. Thus, for example, a lightelastic material can be used with a heaver, cuff reinforcement materialsuch as rubber. Or, a light natural material, such as cotton cloth, maybe used in combination with a heavier cuff reinforcement material suchas leather.

The enhanced cuff design is, moreover, usable in conjunction withexisting cuff tightening mechanisms known in the art such as hook andeye, laces, or any of the many tightening mechanisms known in the art.

Further, multiple materials may be used in concert with one another. Forexample, differing materials can be used on the top and bottom of theglove to allow for added comfort, while maintaining the rigidity of theglove.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a top view of a glove featuring the enhanced glove cuff.

FIG. 2A is an enlarged top view of the cuff reinforcement of theenhanced glove cuff.

FIG. 2B is a cross-sectional view of the cuff reinforcement of theenhanced glove cuff.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention relates to an enhanced cuff design for glove thatallows the greater comfort for the wearer while not compromising thefit, rigidity, and usefulness of the glove as a whole. As usedthroughout this specification, “glove” shall refer to any of the manyforms of hand coverings used to protects the wearer's hands. Specificreferences to materials used throughout the specification are only manyto illustrate by way of example the principles of the invention. Theinvention is adaptable and useable with any of the many materials usedfor glove manufacturing known in the art and any of the many glove typesknown in the art.

FIG. 1 is a top view of a glove 100 featuring the enhanced glove cuff. Aglove 100 is shown that features the enhanced glove cuff. Included onthe cuff of the glove is a hook and eye strap 110 for tightening theglove, a elastic top portion of the cuff 120, and a rigid cuffreinforcement 130. The combination of the lighter elastic material andthe cuff reinforcement serve to provide comfort while maintainingrigidity of the glove.

FIG. 2A is an enlarged top view of the cuff reinforcement 200 of theenhanced glove cuff. A cuff reinforcement 200 is shown along with itsconstituent parts, including the raised ridge 210, which allows forgreater reinforcement, the inner edge 220 which abuts the elasticportion of the cuff, and the middle section 230, which can be used todisplay a brand name, logo, or advertisement.

FIG. 2B is a cross-sectional view of the cuff reinforcement 200 of theenhanced glove cuff. The raised ridge 210 is displayed with itsthickened material as well as the middle portion 230, which can be usedfor display of a brand name, logo, or advertisement.

While the invention has been set forth in relation to specificembodiments, it is to be understood that certain changes may be made inthe novel invention without departing from the scope of the inventionand it is intended that all matter contained in the above description orshown in the accompanying drawings are to be interpreted as illustrativeand not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended tocover the generic and specific features of the invention hereindescribed.

1. An enhanced cuff for gloves worn by humans, comprising, a firstmaterial forming a first portion of the cuff, a second material forminga second portion of the cuff, said first material being formed ofmaterials of relatively rigid composition to those materials used insaid second material, said second material being used on one or moreportions where the glove covers or lies adjacent to a joint on thewearer's hand, a third material generally forming a part or all of thedistal portion of the cuff, said third material being configured tosurround the portions of the second material.
 2. An enhanced cuff forgloves according to claim 1, wherein said second portion lies on the topportion of the cuff and adjacent to the top of the wearer's wrist.
 3. Anenhanced cuff for gloves according to claim 2, wherein said thirdmaterial is generally U-shaped.
 4. An enhanced cuff for gloves accordingto claim 3, wherein said third material includes one or more ridges thatadd rigidity to said third material.
 5. An enhanced cuff for glovesaccording to claim 1, wherein said glove cuff includes a tighteningmechanism in order to tighten the glove to the wearer's wrist.
 6. Anenhanced cuff for gloves according to claim 1, wherein said secondportion lies on the bottom portion of the cuff and adjacent to thebottom of the wearer's wrist.
 7. An enhanced cuff for gloves accordingto claim 6, wherein said third material is generally U-shaped.
 8. Anenhanced cuff for gloves according to claim 1, wherein said secondportion lies on the top portion of the cuff and the bottom portion ofthe cuff, adjacent to the top and bottom of the wearer's wrist.
 9. Anenhanced cuff for gloves according to claim 1, wherein said thirdmaterial is comprised of one of the following: rubber, plastic,polyvinyl chloride, neoprene, silicone, polyurethane, or any of theother suitable materials known in the art.
 10. An enhanced gloveaccording to claim 1, wherein said third material is located on theoutside surface of the glove, such that it remains visible when worn.11. An enhanced glove according to claim 1, wherein said third materialis located on the inside surface of the glove, such that is cannot beseen when the glove is worn.